Showing posts with label Readable. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Readable. Show all posts

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Review: Lexia Readable is for readers of graphic novels, not funny books

Lexia Readable: What happened when Comic Sans grew up. Designed by K-Type as a visually mature version of the comic cliché, Lexia gives your copy clarity and legibility without the now-cloying whimsy.

Lexia Readable and Lexia Bold are available as OpenType, TrueType, and PostScript in the same download. A sans serif typeface, Lexia Readable echos the reasons many literacy professionals like to use Comic Sans: the handwritten lowercase a and g (rather than the letterpress versions); ascenders that equal the cap height, and similarly long descenders; an x-height that is just a hair above the median. These features all make Lexia easy on the eyes—and easy on the brain for early readers and readers with a disability such as dyslexia.

But unlike Comic Sans, Lexia Readable steps it up a notch with asymmetrical lowercase b and d, straightened lines rather than the hand-drawn wobble, and 170 kerning pairs to ensure good spacing and placement.

Keith Bates, designer of Lexia Readable, notes, "Lexia Readable was primarily an attempt at a grown-up Comic Sans that might be more appropriate for use with older readers," he says. "It's an attempt to retain the strength, friendliness and legibility of Comic Sans, and even a slightly marker-drawn feel, whilst tidying up the comic book idiosyncrasies.

"Lexia adds a hint of dignity, a sprinkling of refinement, and introduces elements of designer type to appeal to a contemporary audience." Lexia is designed to be legible, even at small sizes, and looks great down to 8 points. The open lowercase b and p (designed to avoid symmetry and confusion for some readers) make Lexia a poor choice for display purposes—it just looks odd—but it still works, and at least the detail in the uppercase letters adds style that Comic Sans lacks.

Although Lexia Readable tries its hardest to not condescend, still pass this through the suitability filter. While Lexia is great for literacy programs and schools, this font is not appropriate for business letterhead or address labels.

Embedding is installable. Lexia Readable and Lexia Readable Bold are available free for personal use, and also free for use by schools, colleges, other educational establishments, non-profit groups, and charities. The full Lexia typeface (Lexia Bold, Italic, Heavy, Outline) is available for all uses including commercial from K-Type.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.


From PC World. Electronics product reviews and advice for best reference

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Review: Lexia Readable is for readers of graphic novels, not funny books

Lexia Readable: What happened when Comic Sans grew up. Designed by K-Type as a visually mature version of the comic cliché, Lexia gives your copy clarity and legibility without the now-cloying whimsy.

Lexia Readable and Lexia Bold are available as OpenType, TrueType, and PostScript in the same download. A sans serif typeface, Lexia Readable echos the reasons many literacy professionals like to use Comic Sans: the handwritten lowercase a and g (rather than the letterpress versions); ascenders that equal the cap height, and similarly long descenders; an x-height that is just a hair above the median. These features all make Lexia easy on the eyes—and easy on the brain for early readers and readers with a disability such as dyslexia.

But unlike Comic Sans, Lexia Readable steps it up a notch with asymmetrical lowercase b and d, straightened lines rather than the hand-drawn wobble, and 170 kerning pairs to ensure good spacing and placement.

Keith Bates, designer of Lexia Readable, notes, "Lexia Readable was primarily an attempt at a grown-up Comic Sans that might be more appropriate for use with older readers," he says. "It's an attempt to retain the strength, friendliness and legibility of Comic Sans, and even a slightly marker-drawn feel, whilst tidying up the comic book idiosyncrasies.

"Lexia adds a hint of dignity, a sprinkling of refinement, and introduces elements of designer type to appeal to a contemporary audience." Lexia is designed to be legible, even at small sizes, and looks great down to 8 points. The open lowercase b and p (designed to avoid symmetry and confusion for some readers) make Lexia a poor choice for display purposes—it just looks odd—but it still works, and at least the detail in the uppercase letters adds style that Comic Sans lacks.

Although Lexia Readable tries its hardest to not condescend, still pass this through the suitability filter. While Lexia is great for literacy programs and schools, this font is not appropriate for business letterhead or address labels.

Embedding is installable. Lexia Readable and Lexia Readable Bold are available free for personal use, and also free for use by schools, colleges, other educational establishments, non-profit groups, and charities. The full Lexia typeface (Lexia Bold, Italic, Heavy, Outline) is available for all uses including commercial from K-Type.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.


From PC World. Shop computer and accessories from Amazon here

Monday, September 10, 2012

Chrome/Firefox Extension Gmelius Makes Gmail More Readable

With numerous buttons and options you may never use, Gmail's rich interface can get in the way of actually reading email. To be fair, Google packs a lot of functionality into the interface, but no interface is perfect for 100% of its users. Gmelius is a simple Chrome extension and/or Firefox add-on that lets you pick and choose which features you want to see, and how you want to use them.

Gmelius for Google Chrome screenshotGmelius for Google Chrome lets you decide which Gmail options you want to see.Gmelius's interface is just a long list of settings with checkboxes, but it's divided into sensible sections and gets the job done. With one click, you can hide Gmail's top bar, and toggle it back by tapping the slash key (/) when you're in Gmail. Another click moves the labels to the right side of the email line, and yet another adds icons to email threads showing the type of attachments they contains.

Gmelius also lets you remove ads from Gmail, and homogenize the formatting of all incoming emails so that even if someone were to write you an email entirely in Comic Sans, it would show up in Gmail's default font.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download install the latest version of the software directly into your Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browser.

—Erez Zukerman


From PC World. Shop computer and accessories from Amazon here

Friday, August 24, 2012

Chrome/Firefox Extension Gmelius Makes Gmail More Readable

With numerous buttons and options you may never use, Gmail's rich interface can get in the way of actually reading email. To be fair, Google packs a lot of functionality into the interface, but no interface is perfect for 100% of its users. Gmelius is a simple Chrome extension and/or Firefox add-on that lets you pick and choose which features you want to see, and how you want to use them.

Gmelius for Google Chrome screenshotGmelius for Google Chrome lets you decide which Gmail options you want to see.Gmelius's interface is just a long list of settings with checkboxes, but it's divided into sensible sections and gets the job done. With one click, you can hide Gmail's top bar, and toggle it back by tapping the slash key (/) when you're in Gmail. Another click moves the labels to the right side of the email line, and yet another adds icons to email threads showing the type of attachments they contains.

Gmelius also lets you remove ads from Gmail, and homogenize the formatting of all incoming emails so that even if someone were to write you an email entirely in Comic Sans, it would show up in Gmail's default font.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download install the latest version of the software directly into your Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browser.

—Erez Zukerman


From PC World. Shop computer and accessories from Amazon here